A Major Cause of Death in COPD and Risk Factors for Lung Cancer a Dilemma or a Mistake?

We believe that the cohort examined by Parimon and colleagues as reported in their article

(1) was appropriate to establish an association between the use of inhaled steroids and the decrease in incidence of lung cancer in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) . However, I also strongly believe that the cohort should have been followed for a longer period, as 26 months is too short a time to study a disease that takes years to develop.

I have a slight disagreement with the statement “the most common cause of death among subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is lung cancer.” The Lung Health study cited by Parimon and coworkers clearly stated lung cancer to be the most common cause of death in COPD, but among the mild to moderate subgroup